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Writer A: Quick! Our heroes need to have some sort of mystical object to find!
Writer B: How about the Holy Grail?
Writer A: Brilliant! But wait, our hero needs an awesome weapon...?
Writer B: ...How about Excalibur?
Writer A: Brilliant! You've got a gift, my friend!
Thus goes the apparent thought process of using the Public Domain Artifact — a famous, usually completely mythical, conveniently uncopyrighted, yet instantaneously recognizable item from the realms of history, literature, or legend (if not all three).
This is not to say that such items can't be included in a perfectly entertaining and even unique plot, but its variations certainly do crop up frequently, in almost every genre — comedy, drama, science fiction, fantasy — and pretty much every culture from East to West. Some cultures have favorite items to use (Holy Grail for the West, for instance, the Ame-No-Murakumo for Japan, etc.), however with increasing globalization and influence of international works on the domestic and vice versa, this has been somewhat diluted in recent years, with shows like say, Neon Genesis Evangelion featuring the Lance of Longinus.
It can be a weapon, a MacGuffin, or hell, maybe both if it's a mystical doomsday device. Sometimes the trope crops up as Imported Alien Phlebotinum (seen often, for example, in Stargate SG-1), sometimes it's a mystical object, and occasionally it's both. Sometimes startling revelations are to be had about the object, sometimes it's straight out of the legends, heck, maybe it's even reconstructed from the original's spare parts. Regardless of its distinguishing features in the story, though, what makes a Public Domain Artifact worthy of the name is its basis on stories of the past — the collective myths of man, with all their familiar symbols.
There's honestly no telling how long this one has been around, but variations of it definitely predate the 20th century, making it at least Older Than Radio.
In an series set in another world, these may appear, but under different names. Often, entire sets of artifacts will be used, to make the characters feel like they're "getting" somewhere.
There's about a one-in-three chance that Hitler either had it or was searching for it. As the book Angels of Light and Darkness put it, "If Hitler had half of what they say he had, he would have won the war."
In modern series, many of these items are made of low-grade unobtainium, especially if magic is down-played or completely absent.
If weapons, they are almost certainly Named Weapons and Stock Weapon Names.
Examples
- Pretty much anything Jesus is reputed to have ever touched, ever:
- The Holy Grail: The cup which Jesus Christ supposedly drank from at the Last Supper and/or the cup used by Joseph of Arimathea to capture the blood of Christ at the crucifixion.
- First popularized by Arthurian Legend, and used absolutely everywhere since, from Monty Python movies to Indiana Jones.
- Inverted in the second Nightside book by Simon R Green with the MacGuffin being the Unholy Grail — the cup Judas drank from. Which... was the same cup.
- The Invisibles features the Black Grail, which caught the blood and excreta of Judas when he hanged himself. It bestows ignorance, rather than the enlightenment of the normal grail.
- Also the Graphic Novel Camelot 3000, in which the Grail transforms a mutated Knight back into human form, and then, when stolen by Mordred and merged into a suit of armor, creates a armor that instantly heals any and all damage, no matter how fatal. Not that it really did Modred that much good...
- Let's not even get started on Kinoko Nasu's Fate Stay Night and Fate Zero.
- Though at least in the Nasuverse, it's explicitly stated that there are dozens of artifacts which claim to be the Holy Grail, and that whether that particular one had anything to do with Jesus is irrelevant considering its power. Turns out it was made from scratch in the 1800s.
- Fragments of the True Cross — that is, the one on which Christ was crucified. This one pops up pretty often in real life as well as in fiction — many congregations around the world possess fragments, usually no more than a single splinter, of an artifact discovered in the 4th century said to be the relic.
- The Flying Dutchman is about a man travelling with a piece of the cross to be able to return it to his father who has been haunting the oceans since he died at sea.
- Spoofed in an episode of The Simpsons, where after a bullet meant for Homer strikes Ned Flanders in the Bible, a second round knocks him over, and he gets up again, relieved that he was wearing "an extra large piece of the True Cross today."
- The webcomic Clan Of The Cats has a stake made from the True Cross as the only way to permanently kill Dracula. Which is, admittedly, a pretty good way.
- Nails that punctured Jesus in the Crucifixion are seemingly less common, oddly enough, but not unknown, let alone in fiction: they've appeared in at least one really popular series of fantasy novels. The Dresden Files pretty early on introduces the concept of the Knights of the Cross, a trio of men who each have a sword imbued with magical anti-evil powers thanks (supposedly) to having one of the ancient Jesus nails worked into the hilt. Of course, the series also has a pretty firm (and in this context, even slightly subversive) "faith in something gives it power" rule, so there's no real way to tell if they're actually from the Crucifixion or not.
- In a double-whammy, one of said swords might be Excalibur.
- The Iron Crown of the Lombards (which was siezed by Charlemagne when he defeated that Northern Italian state) is reputed to incorporate such a nail. Similarly, the Spear of Destiny in Vienna (cited elsewhere on this page) also incorporates an alleged nail of the Crucifixion. (Despite the fact that it was also supposedly used to stab Christ while he was on the cross. Time Travel?)
- Reforging/remaking of the spear is more likely. Though this troper has seen a documentary which dates the spearhead itself to the 10th century or so, though the nail within it appeared to be older.
- In the Hellsing manga, Alexander Anderson uses in his final fight with Alucard one of the Vatican's most important relics, "Helena's Nail". According to Catholic tradition, Helena of Constantinople, mother of Emperor Constantine I, was the discoverer of the remains of the True Cross. She is said to have affixed at least one nail to the bridle of her son's horse to give him protection in battle.
- In John Bellairs' Johnny Dixon series of novels, the heroes' greatest weapon against the forces of darkness is a small cross, worn on a necklace by a priest, containing two splinters of the True Cross.
- The webcomic Dr. Mc Ninja features a selection of anti-undead ninja weapons, including a staff carved from the True Cross.
- There's a common joke that there are enough fragments of the True Cross to rebuild Noah's Ark, but Rohault de Fleury, a 19thC French scholar, measured the total volume of all claimed fragments of the True Cross and found they added up to 0.004 cubic meters; his estimate was that the whole cross would have been 0.178 cubic meters. (This was published in Mémoire sur les instruments de la Passion, 1870, not that This Troper has read it.)
- In the continuity of Vampirella, giving a vampire a scratch with a fragment of the True Cross, even if it is a wound a normal human would ignore, causes the monster to explode.
- Doctor Doom was revealed to have splinters of the True Cross in his armour in a recent Captain Britain and the Mi13 series. Just in case he'd run into Dracula one day.
- The Shroud of Turin, unsurprisingly, has also appeared at least a time or two in fiction of recent years, usually with the implication that it has enormous mystical power. Test results that date it to the late Middle Ages are generally ignored.
- Not so fast. There's been recent evidence to suggest that the original results from 1988 were either the results of bias or poor data sampling. See the "chemical properties of the sample site" under the "Analysis of the Shroud"
- In The Dresden Files (somewhat unsurprisingly) the entirety of Death Masks is centered on the theft of the Shroud of Turin, in which it's heavily implied (and occasionally all but outright explicitly stated) that said Shroud has some crazy mystical strength owing to many years of being an object of faith. Interestingly, the usual assumption that it could heal (as is a common assumption with pretty much anything that ever touched so much as Jesus' toenail clippings) is addressed, but the book in question leaves it open as to whether or not it actually can heal to the level hoped for. It does, however, hold up improbably well despite taking a beating (and a soaking followed by a pulling), and it may or may not have contributed to a fight, if you don't believe in coincidence. Oh, and it was about to be used as part of a mystical doomsday plot at one point, too... need I go on?
- Fun fact: The working title of that particular book was Holy Sheet, but the publishers demanded a change. One instance where they couldn't get crap past the radar.
- Appeared in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Strikers in the form of the Holy Shroud of the Saint King, the figure of worship of the Belkan Saint Church. While it had no powers of its own, it was used to retrieve blood samples of the Saint King and create a clone of him.
- Appears in the Wild Cards novel Death Draws Five, in which the Shoud is stolen and given to an ace with the power to speak with the dead, in order that she might summon up Jesus and have him give instructions as to what to do to bring about the Apocalypse.
- It's the central object in Doug Ten Napel's graphic novel Creature Tech, in which the Shroud actually has the power to instantly heal anything, even bringing things back from the dead, such as GIANT SPACE EELS.
- To Aru Majutsu No Index's titular character, Index, claims her outfit, the Walking Church, is an accurate replica of the Shroud, and is of Pope-class hardness, able to deflect physical, magical, and psychic attacks. Well, it was, unti Touma's Imagine Breaker touched it and it fell apart.
- The Shroud of Turin is vital to the plot of Creature Tech, being sought by the villain for its ability to heal and/or resurrect anything it touches due to being caked with the dried blood of Jesus.
- Similarly, there's Veronica's Veil — a cloth that the eponymous Veronica wiped Jesus' brow with as he was marched to Golgotha, and which was imprinted with his image. Some scholars believe the Veil may have been the Shroud of Turin, just folded so only the image of the face appeared.
- The Lance of Longinus / Spear of Destiny / Holy Lance: The spear which supposedly pierced Jesus' side during the crucifixion, reputed to have all kinds of crazy powers ranging from healing to the ability to destroy the whole world in one shot. Three known items are sometimes claimed to be the Holy Lance; One resides in the Vatican, one in the Hofburg Museum in Vienna (having been moved from Nuremberg during the Napoleonic Wars) and one in Krakow, Poland. The Catholic Church has made no statements as to the authenticity of any of them — perhaps wisely as the latter two have been shown by recent research to be of a later origin.
- Used everywhere from video games, to Evangelion and even the first of those campy flicks from The Librarian series (where it was inexplicably in three parts, and became a set of Plot Coupons necessitating a whole lot of traveling and avoiding of Mayan Death Traps). Also appears as a plot coupon in the Fullmetal Alchemist Movie, which allows the Big Bad to open a portal between the worlds.
- Almost any work of fiction dealing with The Nazis' top secret paranormal experiments and super-weapons will mention the Spear at some point.
- Used in DC comics set during WWII. Hitler had it, as the justification why Superman or others didn't just fly over and beat the snot out of him and his army. This is a decades-later Ret Con, the actual Golden Age comics didn't bother to explain.
- In the four-part Elseworlds story The Golden Age, it is revealed that the real reason none of the American superheroes attacked Germany directly was that Hitler had a superhero of his own whose power was to negate the power of other superheroes. But The Golden Age isn't canon with mainstream DC.
- A notable appearance as a weapon in God Of War II, notable in that this would predate its more famous use. Which begs the question of what the hell Longinus was doing with it... (Given that the game's spear looks nothing like a Roman spear (or a Greek one, for that matter), can extend and retract, fires crystal-like projectiles, and was carried around by a griffin-riding undead knight....it's probably just a spear of destiny, and not the Spear of Destiny.)
- Appears in the Wyrd Museum trilogy as the only weapon that can kill the three fates.
- A scarily accurate replica of the German spear (which is actually just the spearhead) made a brief appearance in the Hellboy movie, prominently displayed in a glass case at the BPRD headquarters.
- The replica from Hellboy also appears as a major plot device in The Movie of the comic book Hellblazer, Constantine.
- The Vienna lance is said to have inspired a vision of destiny in a young Adolf Hitler, and when Austria was annexed he had the lance removed to Berlin — so at least some of the Nazi connection is actually true.
- Rumor/urban myth states that a team of American commandos took the Lance out of Germany in 1945 and that it's currently stored in the Pentagon.
- In a twofer, if you look closely at the tip (Picture on the Other Wiki, click it twice for the full resolution where you can see it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear_of_destiny#Vienna_lance_.28Hofburg_spear.29 ) it has what is purported to be one of Jesus's nails wired into it.
- All members of Hitler's most-trusted robot knight battalion, who followed him to Antarctica after WWII use mass-produced copies of the Holy Spear to seal Persona selection in Persona 2 Innocent Sin. Somehow "Jesus!" is the only fitting thing one can say to that.
- The MacGuffin from Wolfenstein 3D's sequel, Spear of Destiny. Guarded by the Angel of Death.
- One of supporting charaters in mighty postmodernist Russian Urban Fantasy novel Look Into the Monsters' Eyes, a Soviet paratrooper turned Belarussian partisan, turned American marine, turned Mossad operative, turned Argentinian gaucho was at one point of his turbulent life one of the aforementioned marines tasked with finding the Lance. It's also alleged that he was the very same marine who is Wolfenstein's protagonist. Yes, the book is that weird, but otherwise excellent.
- The Spear plays an important part in the plot of Richard Wagner's Parsifal, which also features the Holy Grail.
- Somewhat ironically, in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy X, Kimahri's ultimate weapon was named after this... however it got changed to the 'spirit lance' for the Western releases because it was thought to be too controversial
- American Desert by Percival Everett actually has a reason for including this specific spear—the blood on it is used to clone Christ. Not that it works very well . . .
- The short-lived Nineties Adventure Show Roar was entirely based around this - the Big Bad of the show was Longinus himself, who was granted immortality as a curse after killing Jesus. The super power of the Lance was supposedly the ability kill anyone - that's how it killed Jesus, an immortal god. It somehow made its way to Britain, and Longinus was trying to get it back in order to kill himself with it.
- The spear shows up in an episode of, of all things, The Unit. Normally a show about the All-State guy and a bunch of badasses fighting terrorists, this particular episode has him an an injured man stranded behind enemy lines. When they report their location and it turns out to be near a monastery suspected of guarding the spear, an affluent group of men who throw around a lot of money to influence the government call in some favors to have their rescue convieniently delayed until Jonas takes the spear from the monastery. Some Lampshade Hanging is done at the expense of the "committee;" the character who relays their wishes notes that they may very well be raving mad to think owning the spear will magically expand their influence. Jonas and his injured team member each have a Mind Screw during the ordeal, though.
- Oddly shows up as a combination NPC/weapon, in Disgaea Hour Of Darkness. It stands in Laharl's castle and can be asked about the strengths and weaknesses of various weapon types.
- The Crown of Thorns has occasionally popped up too. Supposedly worn by Jesus during and prior to the Crucifixion, it's often said to have the power to defy death. Or maybe it's just a really good helmet that saps your HP.
- Or, in Chrononauts, you yourself may travel back in time to 33 AD, and steal it from You-Know-Who, to aid in your Mission as a Time Traveler, or perhaps to simply sell off as a Biblical Relic to gain a bonus card when given the opportunity to Sell an Artifact.
- The Lazarus Bowl: the words of Christ used to raise Lazarus from the dead, recorded in the grooves of a pot being thrown at the time. Used in The X Files, and the concept was used on CSI. Debunked (alas) by Myth Busters.
- While Jesus didn't actually touch them, the thirty pieces of silver (Roman coins called denarii) given to Judas show up in The Dresden Files. Each one contains a fallen angel, the lot of whom are collectively referred to as the Knights of the Blackened Denarius.
- In The Librarian: The Judas Chalice, they had been forged into a silver equivalent to the Holy Grail for vampires.
- In Thunderstruck, Judas Iscariot is the progenitor of all vampires, his condition being the result of a curse put on him due to his traitorous intentions as he drank of the blood of Christ at the Last Supper. The thirty pieces of silver became a talisman holding absolute power over his soul; whoever possesses the silver pieces has total control over Judas (but only if they have all 30).
- From the Old Testament, there's the Ark of the Covenant — though, as Indiana Jones demonstrated, it is not said to be something many people can safely use.
- Even if it doesn't possess any supernatural power, the design as laid out in the Bible could produce a monstrous capacitor, and in the right environment and circumstances, could build up a potentially deadly static charge. Which may be why the Bible also specifies (insulating) silk garments for the bearers of the Ark... and might explain the biblical account of the unprotected man who touched the Ark and was struck dead.
- Asian media, especially in Japan, has the Treasures of Amaterasu, aka the "Imperial Regalia of Japan": the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi, also known as Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, the mirror Yata no Kagami, and the necklace Yasakani no Magatama. All three actually exist, and are stored in three different temples. However, they have never been shown in public and some may be copies of lost or stolen originals. Interestingly, the Kusanagi is rarely actually depicted in the straight, double-edged, longsword-like style and bronze composition it probably should be, but often as a katana. The Magatama is often represented by its signature comma-shaped beads rather than the whole necklace. The Kusanagi was found in the tail of the Orochi after its death.
- In Sailor Moon, all three treasures became the primary weapons of Sailor Uranus ("Space Sword", based on the Kusanagi), Sailor Neptune (the Mirror) and Sailor Pluto (the necklace, or the jewel from it at any rate, which became the Garnet Orb on her staff). The items are so powerful in combination that — bizarrely enough — they can call into existence another Public Domain Artifact on this page: the Holy Grail. Which is, of course, really just another excuse to add another transformation sequence/fancy outfit/power-up for Sailor Moon, who is (appropriately enough) both the Messianic Archetype and The Messiah of the series.
- The Magatama is used extensively in the Phoenix Wright games, purported to have the power to read people's minds (or at least see when they're hiding things).
- The Regalia are especially popular in Japanese video games, also forming the second set of Plot Coupons in Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, and also show up in Golden Sun 2 and Tales of Symphonia.
- Another notable example occurs in the first two Sakura Taisen games, in which they are called the "Majinki" (meaning "Demon God Weapons"). They can grant whoever uses them the power of a god . . . or a demon. They are stolen and used by the Big Bad in the first game, and are destroyed in the second game to prevent the second game's Big Bad from doing likewise.
- they also allow someone from the Shinguji bloodline to banish the Kouma Demons at te cost of their life... which also plays into Oogami's decision to destroy them, as Sakura does consider their use... like her father did in the first war.
- The comic Usagi Yojimbo devotes an entire Story Arc to the rediscovery and delivery for safekeeping of Kusanagi no Tsurugi.
- Orochimaru of Naruto somehow has the Kusanagi (which the dub calls "The Grass Long Sword" and it literally means "Grass-cutting Sword") and stores it in his throat of all places, presumably because he is indirectly named after the legendary serpent Orochi, in whose body the Kusanagi supposedly originated. It's is shown accurately as a straight blade, but also possesses the ability to extend and glows for some reason. The Mirror is held by a spirit that Itachi creates with a Dangerous Forbidden Technique that deflects all attacks... and ends up killing him. The Sage of the Six Paths◊ wears a necklace that looks the Magatama, though it doesn't appear to be of any significance.
- Though the artifacts themselves don't appear, certain characters from The King Of Fighters are named for them: Kyo Kusanagi, and Iori Yagami (former clan name: Yasakani). Chizuru Kagura is not named for her artifact, but has been shown to be a vessel for the Yata Mirror.
- Kannazuki No Miko postulates that Ama No Murakumo is actually two swords. And a Humongous Mecha, for an even count.
- The necklace used to give Inu Yasha the "sit!" command resembles the full Yasakani no Magatama.
- Additionally, in the third movie, Swords of an Honorable Ruler, some comedy is generated by Kagome's grandfather's misreading of the kanji on the sheath of the evil Empathic Weapon Sou'unga, which causes him to believe that it is the real Kusanagi no Tsurugi.
- Inu Yasha's own weapon happens to come from the body of a monster and is able to control the wind, one too many similarities to the Kusanagi.
- The titular Blue Seeds that are the souls of the Aragami are single magatamas, one of the main characters is named Kusanagi Mamoru, and there is a villain named Murakumo who is actually Yamata no Orochi.
- The Blue Moon Crystal in Skies Of Arcadia, which is also a sacred artifact for the nation of Yafutoma, just happens to be magatama-shaped.
- Ghost In The Shell's protagonist, Motoko Kusanagi, is named after the sword. (It sounds roughly as natural to a Japanese speaker as "Jane Excalibur" would sound to an English speaker... which is probably why Masamune Shirow lampshaded it with a comment in his narration about it being "obviously a pseudonym".)
- The sword, mirror, and "proof of royalty" in Ruin Explorers.
- In the game Saga Frontier, these three items (a sword, shield, and necklace respectively) can be found in Sei's Tomb in Shrike. Players can choose to keep these items, which are medium-powerful in their own right, or put them on particular pedestals to open the way to the undead King Sei (who promptly attacks the grave-robbers.)
- As you would expect for a game starring Amaterasu, Okami features the three relics as your three weapon options— a mirror, a sword, and a 'rosary' of beads worn around the neck.
- The Philosopher's Stone, an item or substance of alchemical legend reputed to allow one to turn base metals into gold and possibly create an Elixir of Life, allowing one to become immortal.
- This is one of those ones that genuinely crosses international borders on a frequent basis — everything from the first Harry Potter book (though they changed its named to "Sorcerer's Stone" for the U.S. release because they thought Americans are stupid and would be confused as to why philosophers would have anything to do with magic) to Fullmetal Alchemist has used some variation or other on this for a MacGuffin.
- It may be misnamed in Japanese media if the translators missed the reference: for example, the "Stone of Sages" from Golden Sun or the "Ruby Prism" from the Atelier Iris series.
- Appears in an episode of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The Series, in which it bore a striking resemblance to "the guy from Bosom Buddies who wasn't Tom Hanks" (ironically, the wacky scientist/dad doesn't see it despite being played by that guy). It apparently grants wishes, as long as your wish can be misconstrued as "turn everything I touch into the substance I just mentioned." The climax of the episode has a guy who turns stuff to stone fighting a guy who turns stuff to cheese.
- Incidentally, some historians believe that the "Philosopher's Stone" was actually Zinc... when they initially discovered it they found what they had was something that could turn a worthless, dull metal (Copper) into a shiny golden one (Brass). By the time anyone realized that Zinc wasn't going to be lead-into-gold stuff nobody cared because, hey, now we can make brass so keep doing that.
- Excalibur is the prototypical "special sword". It may be called "The Sword In The Stone" which often has purists in a tiff; sometimes Excalibur and the Sword In The Stone are different swords, sometimes they're the same sword. Arthurian legend is a very sketchy canon. Occasionally called Caliburn or Calad Bolg from the (possibly original) Welsh name Caledfwlch (literally 'hard gap/space', pronounced Cal-ed-voolkh, roughly). It's rarely called that, because Caledfwlch is hard to pronounce and looks rather scarily Welsh.
- Durandal — Sword of the Hero Roland, knight of Charlemagne. Supposedly he threw it into a "poisoned stream" in order to protect it from the Saracens; this seems to have occasionally given it a "Darkness" element in fiction and games.
- Gram — the sword of Siegfried, used to kill the dragon Fafnir. (Norse Mythology) This sword has also been refered to as Balmung and Nothung.
- Less frequently, you will see other legendary Western swords such as Cortana (which actually exists as part of the Regalia of Great Britain), or Joyeuse. However, Excalibur has dozens of appearances for every time one of the others shows up.
- They do show up in Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night and all the portable 2D Castlevanias that follow it. You can find a huge amount of named armor, swords and artifacts — from Joyeuse to the Masamune to Death's Scythe. The most powerful sword in Aria/Dawn of Sorrow, the Claimh Solais, apparently comes from Irish mythology... odd for a Japanese game about vampires.
- In Marathon, Durandal and Joyeuse are AI's. Marathon's spiritual prequel/sequel Halo features an AI named Cortana.
- Excalibur's legend began in the twelth century!
- The Dark Tower series is set After The End of a parallel Earth, where "Arthur Eld" is the semi-mythical forebear of a caste of knightly gunslingers, and who wielded a sword named Excalibur that he retrieved from a pyramid. Roland wields a pair of antique six-shooters said to have been forged from the shattered remnants of Excalibur — the barrels from the blade, the handles from its hilt.
- Fate Stay Night does this to ridiculous extremes, what with All Myths Being True, so not only were there Excalibur, Caliburn, Durandal, and Gram (and plausibly, everything else), there's also that minor event known as the Holy Grail War — it's not the actual Holy Grail, but close enough.
- Taking it even further than that is the character Gilgamesh, whose ability is basically that he owns the originals of every Public Domain Artifact ever.
- The Servant Saber's primary weapon is Excalibur, as she is actually King Arthur. It can even be used as a Wave Motion Gun.
- It's shown quite early in the story that Servant Lancer uses the cursed spear Gae Bolg, immediately revealing his true identity — the Irish hero Cuchulainn. Many other Servants have ways to keep their Noble Phantasms hidden (Saber's wind barrier around her sword which renders it invisible, for one) in order to hide their true identities.
- Used in Witchblade. The Witchblade first claims to be Excalibur; Excalibur is introduced much later in the series as a male counterpart to the blade.
- Excalibolg is said to be a portmanteau of Excalibur and Caladbolg.
- Excalibur and the stone from which it was retrieved do make an appearance in the main series and the spin-off Jack Of Fables, though... the sword is easily recognizable, the stone, however, goes through a change or two.
- Any one of Beowulf's swords can be used for this, particularly Nægling.
- In Charmed, Excalibur actually is a super magical sword that can only be controlled by the most powerful magical being around. (Makes one wonder what Merlin was doing.) Anyone less magical who wields the sword would turn evil. In fact, the Lady of the Lake stayed in the lake to defuse the sword's power, allowing her to stay in control.
- In a couple of the Final Fantasy games, Odin or Gilgamesh are available as summons and use an attack called "Excalibur," presumably involving said sword. (Odin in Final Fantasy VIII also has a wimpy version called "Excalipoor" which does 1 point of damage.)
- This is subverted in Tears To Tiara, where the Sword in the Stone that Arthur draws is named Danwyn. Cleverly enough, Danwyn takes its name from Owain Danwyn, a Welsh Prince who is a strong candidate for the identity of the "real life" King Arthur.
- The Four Treasures of Ireland: the Lance, Cauldron, the Sword, and the Stone — which pretty much fulfill the same role as the Treasures of Amaterasu do, but for a Western audience. They are sometimes matched up with the four western elements.
- The Cauldron is often identified with the Holy Grail.
- It also gets mixed up with the Cauldron of Cerridwen from Welsh mythology and the Black Cauldron.
- The Lance gets identified with the Spear of Destiny.
- The Stone is sometimes said to be the Stone of Scone, once part of the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey but now housed in Edinburgh Castle.
- A few less-reliable sources say it's the Blarney stone in Ireland.
- There's also a standing stone in County Meath called the Lia Fáil. This troper has also been told there's a legend that the Blarney Stone and Stone of Scone are both half the original Stone, although the Irish stone is bluestone, and the Scottish one is red sandstone.
- And Terry Pratchett had the coronation of the dwarves in Uberwald take place with the new Underking sitting on the Scone of Stone.
- These four artifacts, when conflated with the Arthurian legend of the Fisher King, also appear in new incarnations in Robert Jordan's heavily symbolic Wheel of Time series: the Cauldron=the Bowl of the Winds, the Spear=Mat's ashandarei, the Sword=Callandor, and the Crown (in place of the Stone)=the Crown of Swords.
- The Four Great Treasures show up in the fourth Young Wizards novel, A Wizard Abroad.
- And also in Elidor, a novel by British author Alan Garner.
- Grant Morrison has all kinds of fun with this in his Seven Soldiers series.
- The Fountain Of Youth, which differs from most of the other artifacts on this page in that it can't be transported from place to place. Nevertheless, just about every fantasy story that runs long enough will eventually address it.
- The Fountain appears memorably in Tim Powers' On Stranger Tides.
- Real Life: Juan Ponce de León went looking for it and instead got famous for exploring Florida.
- Terry Pratchett spoofed him with Ponce de Quirm, who spent his whole life exploring foreign countries because people made fun of his name. The Fountain granted him youth, but also granted it to the strong, healthy dysentery bacteria that killed him.
- The videogame Colonization lets you discover it and get a bonus. Amusingly, it doesn't limit how many times you can discover it, so a player who explores thoroughly can find dozens of Fountains of Youth scattered all over the Americas.
- The campaign of Age of Empires III is about three generations of people keeping it out of the wrong hands. Hell, you even get to blow it up at one point.
- The novel Tuck Everlasting.
- The movie The Fountain.
- Which actually doesn't fit, since there is no literal fountain that is being sought by either of the three versions of Tom, but a magical tree.
- Appears in an episode of Ben 10. The guy who guarded it probably should've known better than to keep a supply of its water in a carnival dunking booth, even if it was out of order.
- The third Pirates Of The Caribbean movie ends with Barbossa going off to find it... only Barbossa discovers Jack has stolen the map to guide them there.
- An artifact card in Magic: The Gathering
- Xanth also has the fountain of Youth. Since Xanth is basically Florida in a fantasy environment, the author claims that the two fountains are in the same place (in Xanth, Earth, and Mundania ).
- Who says the fountain of Youth can't be elsewhere? There are hand-wavium Fo Ys in Varley's Gaean trilogy, Titan, Wizard and Demon. I can't remember off hand which book they are in.
- In Charmed The Fountain of Youth was like a normal fountain in a city only underground and could be access using a magical grail. It was located in San Fransisco in a cave.
- The Magic Lamp/Bottle — sure to contain a djinni that will grant wishes to the holder, usually with a weird or sadistic twist, inspired by of course, Aladdin's lamp. Ironically, the original point of this trope was that the magician who trapped the djinni (who are really good at magic) would have had to have been extremely powerful to do so, and the djinni would be so happy to be freed they would use their magic to reward the holder.
- Any weapon ever used or made by a god — especially the Norse mythological weapons Gungnir (Odin's spear) and Mjolnir (Thor's hammer).
- This is really common in the various Stargate series. Thor's Hammer included. These are usually Imported Alien Phlebotinum of some sort.
- Mjolnir shows up in Power Rangers Operation Overdrive. Along with the real Thor and Loki. There's also the Spear of Neptune, although Neptune himself is not encountered.
- All the more interesting since one of the villains seven seasons earlier (Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue) was a demon named Loki, and King/Lord Neptune himself appeared in that same season. How Overdrive's long-abandoned city of Atlantis squares with Power Rangers Time Force's ancillary materials placing Atlantis in the South China Sea is unknown.
- One of the ships in The Matrix was technically called Mjolnir, but everybody called it "The Hammer".
- Probably because, as the special features on the Revolutions DVD demonstrate, nobody involved in the production could figure out how to pronounce it.
- It's actually "Mjöllnir", but the sound ö is usually unpronounceable to native English speakers. It's somewhat similar to the "heu" in French (like heure). "Myol'neer" (with short o) is pretty close, though.
- Additionally, there's Theme Naming in the Mjollnir's crew members: all of them were named after guns, except the medic (who was named after a magazine) and the captain (who was named after Stephen King's gunslinger). Which fits this theme more, an unpronounceable Norse weapon or the thing that strikes off a cartridge?
- Mjolnir showed up on First Wave as an alien portal-making thingy. This Troper isn't so sure it made portals in mythology, but it does in Marvel Comics, So Yeah.
- Yet another Halo example: the MJOLNIR Mk. V / Mk. VI Powered Armor worn by the hero and other SPARTAN-II graduates.
- The Masamune and Muramasa. Historically, they were popular, really good swordsmiths. According to legend, however, they were swordsmiths that made swords that were good and evil, respectively. In every place they're mentioned today, though, the Masamune and Muramasa are both swords, not swordsmiths, indicating that no one ever does the research.
- Several Final Fantasy games have swords by this name (Auron's ultimate weapon comes to mind); however, the most (in)famous example is certainly Sephiroth's.
- Chrono Trigger features two characters named "Masa" and "Mune", who combine to create a big windblowy boss called "Masamune"; they're actually the spirits of the sword Masamune. Oddly enough, in the original Japanese they had nothing to do with the Masamune; they were "Grand" and "Leon", and the sword's name was (wait for it) Grand Leon. A quite nice Woolseyism, methinks.
- Tales Of Symphonia has them and at least has flavor text saying they are named after the swordsmiths.
- Though plenty of fiction will refer to a given weapon as a Masamune, indicating the weapon was crafted by him. Compare to the Stradivarii (plural for Stradivarius), stringed musical instruments of extreme quality made by Antonio Stradivari. As the techniques of both craftsmen died with them, and the specific qualities of their works have yet to be reproduced, surviving pieces have become legendary to the point of magical.
- Or consider modern weapons manufactured by the Smith and Wesson or Glock companies; often the weapons will be called by the company name.
- This troper hasn't ever seen it actually used, but even if the game claims the weapon as the Masamune, for example, there's a slight chance it's legit...as the craftsman's true masterpiece — the object whose creation got him recognized as a master of his craft/art in the first place.
- Soul Calibur III at least has an unlockable weapon for Japanese Ronin Mitsurugi: the Masamune. This troper still has to see if there's more...
- Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge and Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant both feature the Murmasa Blade as one of the most powerful weapons in the game, usable only by the samurai class.
- The Muramasa is the name of the sword occasionally found in barrels and such in Final Fight. Sodom wields swords called "Muramasa" and "Masamune".
- The Muramasa is featured in Megaman Battle Network as a sword attack that does damage equal to the HP the user has lost. After two untainted appearances, it was labelled as a "Dark Chip", imposing limitations and/or penalties with its use.
- Two "two-handed-sword" class weapons named Muramasa and Masamune are found in Ragnarok Online. The former raises its user's critical rate, but has a chance to curse its user, and the latter is more powerful and raises dodge rate, but reduces its user's defence to 1/3.
- The Sampo from the The Kalevala, which is especially versatile as it is never explicitly established what it actually is. It seems to be a machine or device used to produce whatever is demanded; we see it churning out gold and salt at two separate points in the legend. Some versions had it as a World Tree.
- The Sampo was a major plot point in the featured film from the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "The Day the Earth Froze." Again, the artifact is continuously mentioned, and even used, without it ever being explained just what the hell it's supposed to be, leading the Satellite of Love crew to have endless fun with the concept, culminating in a fan contest asking people to send in their own ideas of what a "sampo" is. The winner: a photo of a small TV set with the brand name "Sampo" showing a frame of MST 3 K.
- Emil Petaja wrote a series of stories based on the Kalevala. I believe The Star Mill relates to the Sampo.
- Stonehenge is a real place (and it's not the only such circle in Britain, either), but it gets ascribed all sorts of mystic powers in fiction.
- Angus, the First Warrior has Gaoth Cerridwen, the Sword in the Stone, being forged by Druids on the Stonehenge using a nail of Jesus' cross melted with the metals.
- An episode of Jackie Chan Adventures was about trying to keep someone from using Stonehenge as a weapon. It turns out to be an alien signaling device, but the aliens don't show up until everyone leaves.
- Stonehenge also appears in an episode of Transformers: Beast Wars as an alien beacon.
- In Mahou Sensei Negima, similar structures to Stonehenge act as gateways to the magical world.
- There's at least one Stonehenge in every level of Space Invaders Get Even: landing in them fully refills your time/health bar and invader supply, but resets your score multiplier back to 1.
- The Crystal Skulls of Death. Believe it or not, these really do exist, much to the delight of B Movie makers.
- As a certain whip-wielding archaeologist is about to discover...
- The titular Crystal Skull in the movie turns out to be unrelated to the real Crystal Skulls pretty early on. Indy even points this out.
- Another whip-wielding archaeologist ends up needing one too.
- It probably won't surprise anyone that Stargate SG-1 used those as well.
- They aren't "real" in the sense of being historical artifacts, though; while some of the examples are genuine archaeological curiosities, the so-called "legend" attached to them was made up in the late 19th/early 20th century.
- The Phantom film with Billy Zane also features the villain going after three crystal skulls with untold blasting powers.
- Atlantis The Lost Empire accidentally subverted this trope. The heroes are able to find Atlantis because they got their hands on both the Shepherd's Journal (a road map to the place) and a linguist who was able to actually read it. In the DVD voice-overs, the creators mentioned several responses from viewers congratulating them for actually using the Shepherd's Journal for extra authenticity. Ironically, the legend of the Shepherd's Journal begins and ends with Disney's Atlantis — there was no such artifact, legendary or otherwise.
- The titular lost city itself, as seen in Stargate: Atlantis, where it had been moved to another galaxy, submerged, resurfaced in the first episode, then moved to another planet.
- The game of Go; Hikaru No Go built the entire series around it.
- Nowadays we have U.F.Os, Area 51 and The Greys, which seem to qualify as the latest Public Domain Artifacts.
- Or, as the quote from Angels of Light and Darkness states, half of what they say was owned by Hitler.
- H.P. Lovecraft invented the Necronomicon, which has since appeared in tons of fictional works, not limited to the Cthulhu Mythos.
- Probably the most famous of these are the Evil Dead movies, which gave a striking visual look to the book. This version of the book has since been visually referenced in many places where there was a need to show an evil book.
- Terry Pratchett's Discworld version is the infamous and feared Necrotelicomnicon, the Book of Communicating with the Dead Long Distance.
- P.C.Hodgell's Chronicles of the Kencyrath has a Cryptonomicron-analogue in "The Book Bound In Pale Leather", one of several mythic treasures ( or curses) of the Kencyr. The Book can be bruised if mishandled, and contains rune-spells of such power that numerous priests went mad simply writing them down to make The Book.
- The Darkhold is Marvel Comics analog of the Necronomicon. The Darkhold started out as a set of scrolls written in Antedeluvian times, referenced in their Conan the Barbarian adaptations.
- Artist H.R. Giger named two famous collections of artwork and authobigraphy after the Necronomicon.
- The Egyptian Book of the Dead has seen occasional use; for instance, it is a vital Mac Guffin in the Roguelike game Net Hack.
- Fables seems to be extremely fond of this trope — which considering it also uses public domain ''characters'' as the primary basis for its main cast (even relatively obscure ones like Rose Red), should probably not surprise anyone in the least. Public Domain Artifacts in the series include the magic beans (from which come magic beanstalks, of course), the Vorpal Sword (as described in Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky poem... no, really genuinely as described in the poem, including an accompanying "snicker-snack!" sound effect...), the Witching Cloak, the magic barleycorns that Tom Thumb's bride was supposed to have grown from, Boy Blue's horn, a magic lamp, several magic carpets ala Aladdin, and... really countless such objects, actually. Even Santa's "Naughty and Nice" lists make a brief appearance. Frankly, this reader is surprised they didn't throw in the Holy Grail and Fountain of Youth just for good measure...
- There are some artifacts which are associated with Santa, but occasionally show up without him. Usually his bag (ascribed mystical properties of producing whatever is desired) and his sleigh (or some other fantastic method of transportation).
- The Voynich Manuscript, an untranslated medieval manuscript of a seemingly occult nature, sometimes appears in fiction as a Tome Of Eldritch Lore. A list of some works featuring it can be found here.
- The Pied Piper's flute usually appears in that character's possession in stories or plays, but turns up on its own (as the Pipes of the Sewers) in the Dungeons & Dragons RPG.
- The Seven League Boots, from English lore. They're boots that let you walk seven leagues in a single step. Often used in video games as Sprint Shoes.
- Any phenomenon that science has no definite explanation for - examples include the Giant's Causeway and the stone spheres in Costa Rica. This overlaps with Beethoven Was An Alien Spy.
- Pandora's Box is in Warehouse Thirteen.
- Another more recent artifact; the Holy Hand Grenade from Monty Pythons The Holy Grail, despite being a literal throw away gag.
- apears as one of the higher tier weapons in Worms. It even lets out an angelic chorus before it explodes.
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